FFC 
DIVINE MERCY APOSTOLATE
St Peter’s Church, Padungan,
Kuching, in the Archdiocese of Kuching.
Seraphim Home >>DIVINE MERCY APOSTOLATE . Diary >>Divine Mercy Novena 2011
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APOSTOLIC PENITENTIARY
DECREE
Indulgences attached
to devotions in honour of Divine Mercy
"O
God, your mercy knows no bounds and the treasure of your goodness is
infinite..." (Prayer after the
"Te Deum" Hymn) and "O God, you reveal your almighty power
above all by showing mercy and forgiveness..." (Prayer for the 26th
Sunday of Ordinary Time), in these prayers
Duty
of honouring Divine Mercy
The faithful with deep spiritual affection are
drawn to commemorate the mysteries of divine pardon and to celebrate them
devoutly. They clearly understand the supreme benefit, indeed the duty, that the People of God have to praise Divine Mercy with special prayers and, at the same time, they realize that by
gratefully performing the works required and satisfying the necessary
conditions, they can obtain spiritual benefits that derive from the Treasury of
the Church. "The paschal mystery is the culmination of this revealing and
effecting of mercy, which is able to justify man, to restore justice in the
sense of that salvific order which God willed from
the beginning in man, and through man, in the world" (Encyclical Letter Dives in misericordia,
n. 7).
It is God's Mercy that
grants supernatural sorrow and resolution to amend
Indeed,
Divine Mercy knows how to pardon even the most
serious sins, and in doing so it moves the faithful to perceive a supernatural,
not merely psychological, sorrow for their sins so that, ever with the help of
divine grace, they may make a firm resolution not to sin any more. Such
spiritual dispositions undeniably follow upon the forgiveness of mortal sin
when the faithful fruitfully receive the sacrament of Penance or repent of
their sin with an act of perfect charity and perfect contrition, with the
resolution to receive the Sacrament of Penance as soon as they can. Indeed, Our
Lord Jesus Christ teaches us in the parable of the Prodigal Son that the sinner
must confess his misery to God saying: "Father I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no
longer worthy to be called your son" (Lk 15,18-19), realizing that this is a work of God, "for [he] was dead, and is alive; he
was lost, and is found" (Lk 15,32).
Second Sunday of
Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday
And
so with provident pastoral sensitivity and in order to impress deeply on the
souls of the faithful these precepts and teachings of the Christian faith, the
Supreme Pontiff, John Paul II, moved by the consideration of the Father of
Mercy, has willed that the Second Sunday of Easter be dedicated to recalling
with special devotion these gifts of grace and gave this Sunday the name, "Divine Mercy Sunday" (Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Decree Misericors
et miserator, 5 May 2000).
The
Gospel of the Second Sunday of Easter narrates the wonderful things Christ the
Lord accomplished on the day of the Resurrection during his first public
appearance: "On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the
doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and
stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you'. When he said this,
he showed them his hands and his side. Then the discples
were glad to see the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you'.
And then he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of
any, they are retained'" (Jn 20,19-23).
Plenary Indulgence
To
ensure that the faithful would observe this day with intense devotion, the
Supreme Pontiff himself established that this Sunday be enriched by a plenary indulgence, as will be
explained below, so that the faithful might receive in great abundance the gift
of the consolation of the Holy Spirit. In this way, they can foster a growing
love for God and for their neighbour, and after they have obtained God's
pardon, they in turn might be persuaded to show a prompt pardon to their
brothers and sisters.
Pardon of others who sin
against us
Thus
the faithful will more closely conform to the spirit of the Gospel, receiving
in their hearts the renewal that the Second Vatican Council explained and
introduced: "Mindful of the words of the Lord: "By this
all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another'
(Jn 13,35), Christians can
yearn for nothing more ardently than to serve the men of this age with an ever
growing generosity and success.... It is the Father's will that we should
recognize Christ our brother in the persons of all men and love them with an
effective love, in word and in deed (Pastoral Constitution, Gaudium et spes, n.
93).
Three conditions for
the plenary indulgence
And
so the Supreme Pontiff, motivated by an ardent desire to foster in Christians
this devotion to Divine Mercy as much as possible in
the hope of offering great spiritual fruit to the faithful, in the Audience
granted on 13
June 2002,
to those Responsible for the Apostolic Penitentiary, granted the following
Indulgences:
a plenary indulgence, granted under the usual
conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of
Supreme Pontiff) to the faithful who, on the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, in any church or chapel, in a spirit that is
completely detached from the affection for a sin, even a venial sin, take part
in the prayers and devotions held in honour of Divine Mercy, or who, in the
presence of the Blessed Sacrament
exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the
Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. Merciful
Jesus, I trust in you!");
A partial indulgence, granted to the
faithful who, at least with a contrite heart, pray to the merciful Lord Jesus a
legitimately approved invocation.
For those who cannot go
to church or the seriously ill
In
addition, sailors working on the vast expanse of the sea; the countless
brothers and sisters, whom the disasters of war, political events, local
violence and other such causes have been driven out of their homeland; the sick
and those who nurse them, and all who for a just cause cannot leave their homes
or who carry out an activity for the community which cannot be postponed, may
obtain a plenary indulgence on Divine Mercy Sunday, if totally detesting any
sin, as has been said before, and with the intention of fulfilling as soon as
possible the three usual conditions, will recite the Our Father and the Creed
before a devout image of Our Merciful Lord Jesus and, in addition, pray a
devout invocation to the Merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. Merciful Jesus, I trust in
you).
If
it is impossible that people do even this, on the same day they may obtain the Plenary
Indulgence if with a spiritual intention they are united with those
carrying out the prescribed practice for obtaining the Indulgence in the usual
way and offer to the Merciful Lord a prayer and the sufferings of their illness
and the difficulties of their lives, with the resolution to accomplish as soon
as possible the three conditions prescribed to obtain the plenary indulgence.
Duty of priests:
inform parishioners, hear confessions, lead prayers
Priests
who exercise pastoral ministry, especially parish priests, should inform the
faithful in the most suitable way of the Church's salutary provision. They
should promptly and generously be willing to hear their confessions. On Divine Mercy Sunday, after celebrating Mass
or Vespers, or during devotions in honour of Divine
Mercy,
with the dignity that is in accord with the rite, they should lead the
recitation of the prayers that have been given above. Finally, since "Blessed are the merciful, for they
shall obtain mercy" (Mt 5,7), when they
instruct their people, priests should gently encourage the faithful to practise
works of charity or mercy as often
as they can, following the example of, and in obeying the commandment of Jesus
Christ, as is listed for the second general concession of indulgence in the "Enchiridion
Indulgentiarum".
This
Decree has perpetual force, any provision to the contrary notwithstanding.
Archbishop Luigi De Magistris,
Tit.
Archbishop of Nova
Major Pro-Penitentiary
Fr Gianfranco Girotti, O.F.M. Conv.,
Regent
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